Death and Dying

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 26, 2015

Op-Ed article by Prof Oliver Sacks describes taking comfort in samples of elements that have marked his most recent birthdays, such as that of element 82, lead, and 83, bismuth, a birthday he does not believe he will see; reflects on finding solace in thinking of eternal things as he faces inevitability of his death. MORE

Jul. 26, 2015

Editorial welcomes Medicare's plans to reimburse physicians for speaking with patients about end of life care, which is long overdue; points to study published in JAMA Oncology that underscores necessity of new policy. MORE

Jul. 24, 2015

Study in JAMA Oncology finds that even stronger patients may receive no benefit from chemotherapy at end-stage of disease; adds that such treatment may worsen quality of life in their last weeks compared with patients who do not choose last-ditch treatment. MORE

Jul. 24, 2015

Op-Ed article by Theresa Brown underscores importance of proposed rule from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that will reimburse doctors for end-of-life planning and care for Medicare patients; maintains that doctors need to be incentivized to provide most vulnerable patients with information needed to make best choices possible for themselves. MORE

Jul. 9, 2015

Medicare announces that it is rolling out proposal in which doctors will be reimbursed for conversations with patients about end-of-life planning, to take effect in January 2016; plan will be open for comment for 60 days; major medical organizations welcome proposal, which will settle debate that rose up during passage of Affordable Care Act about whether such conversations will lead to rationing of care. MORE

Jun. 21, 2015

Jun. 19, 2015

David Brooks Op-Ed column, responding to readers' essays on purpose in life, submits greatest sense of purpose comes from interactions with fundamentals of life and death; notes most people found purpose in raising children or confronting illness or death; says that for many greatest purpose lies in experiencing life fully, and challenge lies in remaining alert and vital even as daily travails seek to dull us. MORE

May. 26, 2015

Paula Span The New Old Age column shares lessons learned from personal experience about dealing with end of life care for family members. MORE

May. 24, 2015

Teju Cole On Photography column reflects on photos that document death, either after the fact or at the exact moment of its arrival, in light of video footage of Walter L Scott being shot dead in North Carolina by police officer. MORE

May. 10, 2015

Op-Ed article by Prof Deborah Lutz relates how researching Victorian period's attitudes toward death led to appreciation of their emphasis on death's materiality, which is evident in physical memorials that were common at the time; reflects on way current attitudes toward death, particularly way most seem to try to deny its reality, impedes upon understanding of how it enhances beauty of being alive. MORE

May. 3, 2015

Sandeep Jauhar The End column speaks of dilemma that doctors face in so-called futile cases, or patients with a grim prognosis; holds that while obliged to do no harm, many feel crisis of conscience when asked by family members to extend treatment to prolong life when risks exceed benefit; welcomes advances toward establishment of uniform standards to govern futile care. MORE

Apr. 14, 2015

Idea of composting human dead is taking green burial movement step further and attracting interest from environmental advocates and scientists; environmental fellowship recipient Katrina Spade has begun Seattle-based Urban Death Project, initiative that seeks to create facility that combines environmentally conscious burial with ceremony and respect family members crave. MORE

Mar. 28, 2015

A national push and a new guide are giving critically ill young patients a voice in end-of-life discussions. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Op-Ed article by author Oliver Sacks reflects on news that, at age 81, he has terminal cancer of the liver; compares his contemplations with those of philosopher David Hume, who faced his own mortality at age 65; asserts that while he is not ready to die, he is filled with gratitude and appreciation for the life he has lived. MORE

Jan. 24, 2015

Alina Tugend Shortcuts column observes that as aging population grows, experts in hospice care are seeing a growing interest in so-called death doulas, also known as end-of-life doulas and death midwives; services vary from volunteers who simply make visits, to others who charge for things like organizing paperwork, living with a patient or assisting with funeral arrangements. MORE

Jan. 20, 2015

Ethicists, lawyers and older adults are engaged in debate over whether patients who develop dementia should be allowed to end their own lives via withdrawal of food and drink as specified in advance directive; at center of debate is whether a patient can choose to end their life after they become incapable of remembering decisions made while mentally competent. MORE

Nov. 16, 2014

Op-Ed article by author Meghan Daum relates her near-death experience after contracting severe case of typhus; reflects on how her friends all seemed to expect her to be transformed by the experience; notes that she is in fact the same person. MORE

Oct. 19, 2014

Bereavement plays a part in several current museum exhibitions, on television shows and in films, and in fine art and music; Metropolitan Museum of Art's coming exhibit of mourning costumes features gown worn by Queen Alexandra of England in 1902. MORE

Oct. 5, 2014

Op-Ed article by surgeon Atul Gawande identifies some problems doctors have with determining right course of action for patients who suffer from incurable diseases; contends that medicine has forgotten how vital matters like quality of life are to people as they approach life's end; relates story of friend who found hospice care to be best solution for her specific needs. MORE

Sep. 26, 2014

Institute of Medicine report calls for fundamental overhaul of country's end-of-life care; highlights plight of Maureen Stefanides and her unsuccessful struggle against the health care system to fulfill her father Joseph Andrey's dearest wish to die at home. MORE

Sep. 19, 2014

Op-Ed article by Prof Barron H Lerner highlights report by Institute of Medicine that American medical system subjects dying patients to too many treatments, denying them peaceful death; expresses support for reforms suggested in report, but notes that doctors must become bolder and more courageous in order to make sure patients get the most appropriate care. MORE

Sep. 18, 2014

National nonpartisan committee appointed by Institute of Medicine concludes country's system for handling end-of-life care is largely broken and should be overhauled at almost every level; calls for sweeping change. MORE

Sep. 5, 2014

Editorial welcomes fact that some private and public insurers have begun paying doctors to have end-of-life discussions with their patients; contends advanced planning ensures that patients make decisions for themselves when they are of sound mind and also gives doctors and nurses critical information about kind of care desired. MORE

Aug. 31, 2014

Medicare may begin covering end-of-life care consultations by doctors, type of planning once derided as 'death panels,' if it approves recommendation from the American Medical Assn; interest in consultations has risen along with the number of aging Americans, and many private insurers have already begun reimbursing doctors for them. MORE

Jul. 13, 2014

Op-Ed article by author Ted Gup describes receiving unsolicited letters and email from companies and organizations addressed to his son David, who died two and a half years ago; confesses that he cherishes the junk mail, as it offers some connection to his dead son. MORE

Jul. 6, 2014

Jennifer Conlin Reverse Parenting column describes how she, along with her husband and kids, moved in with her parents after years of living abroad; observes that as her mother sits contemplating her death, she too is thinking about the inevitable end of her own life. MORE

Jun. 29, 2014

Photographer Arthur Nazaryan accompanied hospice nurse Kathleen Fanelli from Calvary Hospital in the Bronx on home visits to five patients and their families; project is effort to present death not as an intruder but as part of a family's process of living. MORE

Jun. 27, 2014

Morbid Anatomy Museum, establishment dedicated to cultural attitudes toward and representations of death, and other morbid and marginal subjects, is set to open in Gowanus, Brooklyn; museum grew out of private library collected by its creative director Joanna Ebenstein, and will feature classroom space, gallery and cafe; opening exhibit The Art of Mourning features over 90 objects. MORE

Jun. 15, 2014

Op-Ed article by writer and musician Joshua Max describes seeing his father's corpse shortly after he died; contends that in that last look, he was able to truly see the body as a shell, and to understand what death truly looks like. MORE

May. 15, 2014

Death planning is essential for families and survivors, even if it can be emotionally vexing; written directions for what should be done after one's death must be as specific as possible and not stored with one's estate planning materials. MORE

May. 10, 2014

Jesse Wegman Editorial Observer describes experience of reading letter written by his deceased mother to his 6-day-old daughter as she lay in neonatal intensive care unit; recounts realization that some of letter's words were those of Dumbledore character in Harry Potter books, and describes how his mother came to resemble character toward end of her life. MORE

Apr. 20, 2014

Alexander Huls Riff essay laments trend in blockbuster movies where main characters never seem to die; contends avoiding death threatens to undermine the movie business's reason for being. MORE

Mar. 23, 2014

Millennials have begun projecting their own digitalized sensibilities onto rituals and discussions surrounding death; websites like Modern Loss, geared to people in their 20s and 30s, seek to address many permutations of loss, from miscarriages to a parent's death. MORE

Mar. 13, 2014

Researchers who have tried to tackle the elusive concept of wisdom have found that it is one of the most important qualities one can possess to age successfully, and to face physical decline and death. MORE

Mar. 5, 2014

Dr Sherwin B Nuland, surgeon and author of award-winning book How We Die, dies at age 83. MORE

Feb. 15, 2014

The first installment of a week-long series on grief, mourning, memory — and the clearing out of a childhood home after a father’s death. MORE

Feb. 2, 2014

Op-Ed article by retired surgeon Jeffrey M Piehler describes reasons behind his decision to build his own coffin after 11 years of living with incurable Stage 4 prostate cancer; contends the coffin's true message is to live every moment to its greatest potential. MORE

Dec. 4, 2013

Dec. 1, 2013

Op-Ed article by Daniel Callahan, president emeritus of bioethics research institute Hastings Center, considers the question of whether extending the human life span is desirable. MORE

Nov. 20, 2013

One way that doctors stand out from the general population is in advance planning for the end of life; trend appears to be gradually finding acceptance overall, with Medicare figures showing there has been modest increase in hospice care and organizations like deathoverdinner.org helping people hold end-of-life discussions with their families. MORE

Nov. 20, 2013

People who have terminal diseases are living longer, and costs associated with their care are rising; advisers caution terminal care expenses could easily rise to $1 million or more for last years of life; experts say simple strategies can make the most of the money at hand for those with foresight. MORE

Oct. 14, 2013

When a patient’s health declines rapidly, it’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong, or whether pushing for intensive care instead of “comfort care” could have saved a life. MORE

Oct. 12, 2013

Donald E Miller Jr, declared dead in 1994 after he went missing because he owed child support, is told that Ohio law does not allow a declaration of death to be reversed after three or more years have passed; based on ruling, Miller cannot apply for a driver’s license or reactivate his Social Security number; judge suggests that his unusual situation could lead the Ohio legislature to rethink the law. MORE

Sep. 29, 2013

Elliott Holt Lives essay recounts a brief connection between anonymous woman he had seen for years biking around his neighborhood and his family while they grieved his mother's death. MORE

Sep. 18, 2013

On the last day of my husband’s life, I combed his hair for the first time. MORE

Aug. 13, 2013

Jimo Borjigin study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that surge of brain activity in dying rats may hold explanation for vivid, realistic visions experienced by some human victims of cardiac arrest. MORE

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